Composite brick



March 3, 1931. E. -M. WYATT COMPOSITE mucx Filed Dec. 17, 1928 2Sheets-Sheet l March 3, 1931. TT 1,794,572-

COMPOSITE BRICK,

Filed Dec. 17, 1928 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 I Z7ZZ/EVZZOZ ZZZ 2%;

Patented Mar. 3, 1931 PATENT OFFICE .EDWIN M. WYATT, OF MADISON,WISCONSIN, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, TO

AMERICAN FACEv BRICK RESEARCH CORPORATION, A CORPORATION OF ILLINOISCOMPOSITE BRICK Application filed December 17, 1928. Serial No. 326,517.

This invention relates to the improvement of wall building bricks bymaking them dual in composition, one part of burned clay and one ofconcrete having the characteristics hereinafter referred to. It has forits objects the following:

(a) The facing of the portions exposed in a wall with relativelyexpensive and ornamental burned clay, while the unexposed portion ismade of cheaper and less attractive concrete.

(6) lhe facing of the portion exposed in a wall with burned clay,desirable for its weather resistance and beauty, and the unexposedportions made of concrete that pos sesses other qualities in a superiordegree to the burned clay, such as lighter weight, better insulationagainst heat and cold, better sound deadening, more impenetrable tomoisture, better plaster base, and the ability to receive and hold nailsdriven into it.

(a) The forming of the concrete portion by molds or forms into moreintricate and desirable forms than are practical in present day methodsof manufacturing clay bricks.

(d) The provision of a dual composition brick, the joint between thecomponents of which is characterized by the absence of means for keyingthem together.

In particular, it is often quite desirable to provide a. building unithaving proper 'di mensions to fit into and harmonize with the brickworkof the wall facing, and at the same time provided with a rearwardlyprojecting lug or extension adapted to furnish a lug or abutment for thenailing of lathing, furring strips, or other constituents required inconnection with brickwork. It is thus desirable to provide a plasticcomposition which will readily bond with or adhere to a brick or bricksection and thus constitute an integral portion of a building unit,which portion will be suiiiciently porous to permit the nailing offurring strips, lathing or the like, directly to the masonry of thewall.

It has been found that the aggregate known as Haydite, and described indetail in Reissue Letters Patent No. 16,750, dated Sep tember 27, 1927,is a material which lends itself readily to the requirements ofacomposite brick having the characteristics above set forth, and thepresent invention makes use of such an aggregate as that defined in thepatent above referred to, or one which afi'ords like characteristicswhich well adapt to the requirements of the present invenion.

Although the present invention relates in particular to. a compositebrick having a rearwardly extending lug adapted, when the brick is laidin a wall, to protrude from the normal inner surface of the wall,nevertheless, it is not the intention, unless otherwise indicated, tolimit the invention to a brick of this special configuration, since thecomposite bricks may be variously configured and at the same timeutilize the features of Invention to be pointed out in the presentspecification.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a perspective of a building unit of standard configuration,having a brick facmgand a composition backing;-

Figs. 2 and 3 are erspective views show- 111%ll1g bricks of "LS apedformation;

1g. 4 is a perspective view of a lug brick of T-shaped formation;

Fig. 5 is a standard brick having an end section of composition; and

F1 s. 6 and 7 are perspectives showing modi ed forms of building blockshaving a buck facing and a composition backing.

In each of the instances shown, the brick facing is indicated by theletter B, and the composition backing by the letter C. In Fig. 1', thebrick facing is afforded by a brick split longitudinally and augmentedby a backing of proper dimensions to provide a brick of standarddimensions.

Fig. 3 shows a similar arrangement, in which the composition backing isextended to afi'ord an L-shaped lug brick adapted, when bonded into aWall, to harmonize with the brickwork and at the same time afi'ord ainner brick wall, or other form ofbrick construction.

Fig. 2 shows a facing brick with one of its corners split away to affordan oblique surface for the adherence of the plastic constituent.

Fig. 4 shows a T-shaped brick in which the rearwardly extending lug onlyis composed of a plastic composition, the remainder of the unit being inthe form of a full sized brick, although a similar result might beobtained by employing only a brick slab, as in Fig. 3, instead of a fullsized brick, as the facing unit.

Fig. 5 shows a brick-shaped building unit, in which the end only is ofbrick with a backing of plastic composition. Building units of thischaracter are adapted to be used as headers in a wall, and particularlywhere such a header is employed to afford an inwardly extending lug orprojection to afford a nailing surface.

Fig. 6 shows a building unit having a facing slab composed of a fractionof a brick which is backed by a composition backing, to aflord abuilding unit of larger size than a standard brick. In this instance,the side edges of the building unit are deeply recessed at R to afford aneck N of sufficiently reduced width to permit a mason to grasp thebrick with the fingers and thumb of a single hand around the neck, whichfacilitates the manipulation of building units of this character.

Fig. 7 shows a similar building unit, having a central aperture oropening 0 adapted to afford an opening for the purpose of improvinginsulation, or for use under other conditions where a hollow wallstructure is desirable.

As before stated, the material used as a backing for building units ofthe character above described, or otherwise configured, is composed inpart of an aggregate known as Haydite, and which is prepared for use andused in the following manner:

The basic raw material employed in making the aggregate is argillaceousor clayey in character, and is a material which will harden or form aclinker when subjected to high temperature during the burning step ofthe preparatory process. The presence of foreign materials which mightpreclude the use of such argillaceous or clayey material in the makingof bricks is not detrimental to the formation of the aggregate inquestion. For instance, certain amounts of lime producing material orsand are advantageous rather than otherwise in the raw material to beemployed.

The raw material includes such' argillaceous materials as clay, shell,shale rock or the like, and it is preferred to break up the basicmaterial so that it will pass through a screen having about a four-inchmesh. The raw material thus broken up is burned in a kiln at a hightemperature and for a comparatively short time. The burning temperatureshould be in excess of 1500 F., the range of temperatures from 1700 to2200 F. having been found suitable in the case of most raw argillaceousmaterials. The high temperature 1s maintained for a period of about twohours. During this operation, the material,- or the argillaceousconstituent thereof, is converted into hard particles and clinkers, andassumes such a state that it will withstand the action of the elementswithout disintegration, and at the same time it is wholly resistant tocrushing strains, so that, when used as an aggregate, it will be strongand durable and at the same time lighter than materials ordinarilyemployed for a like purpose.

The resulting burned material consists of indurated clay, inert materialnot changed by the high temperature to which the raw material issubjected, and lime to the extent that lime producing material is or maybe present in the raw material employed. After burning, the raw materialis deposited in piles and permitted to cool slowly from a period of fromsix to twelve hours before being crushed, as will hereinafter appear. orspontaneous disintegration of the material is prevented as much aspossible during the cooling thereof.

' After the material is cooled sufficiently to permit the application ofwater thereto without disintegration, and preferably before crushing,water is added in order to slake the lime which may be present, but thequantity of water used will be as small as possible in order not tointerfere with the crushing operation which follows. If no line formmgingredients were present in the raw material no water need be added.

The burnt, cooled, and water-treated material is next crushed,preferably in a dry state, by means of any suitable crushing mill ordevice, but without attempting to reduce all of the material to auniform degree of fineness. In fact, it is desirable that the resultantmaterial present a varying range of fineness, from coarse particles toimpalpable dust. During this crushing operation, the

slaked lime or lime putty becomes thoroughly mixed with the particles ofcrushed material.

In order to produce a plastic mass suitable for molding, the aggregateis next mixed with Portland or other cement, or lime and water, and theplastic mass thus produced is 1n condition to unite with a brick slab orfraction of a brick, in order to produce the com: posite brick of thepresent invention. The plastic composition may be made by the puddlingprocess, which involves productionof a thin and flowing mixture and thepouring or tamping of the same into suitable molds in which the brickslab or facing section of the intended composite brick islaid, so thatthe plastic backing will firmly adhere thereto and become integrallybonded therewith during the setting of the composition. The same resultmay be obtained by forming a thicker The breaking up mixture of thematerials, and molding the same into adherent relation to a brick orbrick section by pressure or in any other manner commonly employed inmolding operations.

After molding, the composite bricks are allowed to harden and bind thecomminuted basic materials into a compact mass, during which it isdesirable to wet the bricks from time to time in order to secure abetter setting and hardening action of the cement or lime. Thisfinishing operation or step should be continued for from six to twelvedays, at the end of which time the composite brick or other buildingunits are ready for use.

In view of the fact that thebasic material employed in the compositionis burnt in order to render it suitable for use, and to convert it intosuch form that it will not be acted upon by the elements, it followsthat, after the mawill be more resistant to disintegrating influencesthan if composed of materials having widely different physicalproperties.

The use of the composition backing heretofore described is of peculiaradvantage in the formation of a building unit, in View of the fact thatthe composite bricks may be introduced into any desired portion of thewall without interfering with the rhythm or continuity of the brickfacing, and at the same time, by molding the inner constituent of thecomposite brick from plastic material, any

suitable or desirable configuration can be given to this portion of thecomposite unit to fit it for special requirements of. divers character.

I claim:

1. A composite building unit comprising a burned brick facing section ofargillaceous material and a concrete backing section consisting of anaggregate of prepared burned argillaceous particles and i a cementitiousbinder, said binder in said backing serving also to unite the twosections.

2. A composite building unit comprising a burned brick facing section ofargillaceous material and a concrete backing section comprising preparedburned argillaceous material in the form of clinkers of var ing size,and a cementatious binder, said inder in said backing serving also tounite the two sections.

3. A composite building unit comprising a burned brick facing section ofargillaceous material and a concrete backing section comprised ofaggregate of variously sized parti- December, 1928.

EDWIN M. WYATT.

